Mississippi Rice Update – 4/19/2013

Frustration is probably the most predominant emotion in the Mississippi Delta.  I looked through our notes this morning and estimate that since March 14, we have had less than 10 plantable days.  That may be stretching it because there have been a couple of days where we waited until late afternoon to plant a test only to have it rain again the same night or the next day.  Last week I reported that rice emerged some 25 to 30 days after planting for the earliest planted rice.  We planted  the second planting date study on March 28, and it took 18 to 21 days to emerge.  The third planting date study was planted April 9, and was beginning to emerge yesterday.  One thing is for certain, it isn’t going to make progress with the current temperature being 48 degrees.  I am not certain how much of a problem it is commercially, but black birds are reaking havoc on rice plots on the experiment station.  Dr. Jarrod Hardke in Arkansas, Dr. Johnny Saichuk in Louisiana, and Dr. Garry McCauley in Texas have all reported problems with black birds.  Louisiana is pushing for a full label for Avipel, a seed treatment that deters black birds.  If you are having black bird problems, please let me know so we can do our best to partner with other states in the push for this product that can be extremely beneficial for those who have black bird problems.

I was able to obtain the FSA certified rice acre information for 2012, which stated we planted approximately 126,000 acres of rice.  USDA projects that Mississippi will plant 120,000 acres in 2013.  I have not talked to anyone in the business to date that is that bullish for Mississippi rice acres although we appear to be gaining a few more rice acres as corn planting has been delayed.  I witnessed some rows being leveled on Wednesday just east of Cleveland that will be planted to rice   It will be interesting to see what our final planted acres are.  Obviously at this point, we just need some favorable conditions to get the crop planted.  My estimate is we will be near the 15 to 20% planted mark with the Crop Report that will come out Monday.

Based on the current weather situation, I’d like to close this week’s update by mentioning the need to planning ahead with respect to the whole farm situation.  In addition to the overall concern of a late planted crop is the necessity for the crop to move rapidly once we do get it planted.  One of the worst things that can happen is to set an already later planted rice crop behind with off-target herbicide drift.  Some of my weed control colleagues at Stoneville have encouraged preplant applications of herbicides for other crops like soybean.  A question to ponder as we wait for the soil to dry is what will the crops and weeds be doing in the next 10 to 14 days.  In my opinion, if you have rice that will be emerged in the next week and it is in the vicinity of unplanted or recently planted soybean fields where weeds are growing, it is worth considering all possible herbicides and application timings for the soybean crop to minimize the chance for off-target drift onto the rice.  Tom Eubank and Jason Bond will gladly provide advice on the various preplant systems that are working in our current glyposate resistant weed situation.

Once again, if you are interested in what’s happening in rice in our neighboring states, feel free to visit www.rice.msstate.edu.  I try to keep their newsletters posted as they are made available.  If I can assist, please contact me.

Rows being destroyed for rice planting east of Cleveland, MS on April 17.